VEON's Beeline Uzbekistan and Rakuten Symphony Partner for Open RAN, AI Collaboration
Tokyo, Tashkent and Barcelona , March 4, 2026 – VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ:VEON), a global digital operator, and Rakuten Group, Inc. today announce that Beeline Uzbekistan, VEON's digital operator in Uzbekistan, and Rakuten Symphony, a subsidiary of Rakuten Group, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore strategic collaborations that support the development of Uzbekistan's fast-growing digital economy, including on Open RAN development, AI-powered network intelligence and next-generation digital platforms.
The MoU, signed at the MWC Barcelona 2026, establishes a framework to explore collaboration on areas including network deployment, optimization and development, as well as digital services, leveraging Rakuten's software stack and platform expertise.
Under this framework, the companies will assess opportunities to deepen collaboration across priority technology areas, including Open RAN architecture, the ways that AI can deliver more sophisticated network operations, next-generation digital platforms, cloud solutions and global IoT and mobile workforce connectivity. In addition, the two companies will advance collaboration in eSIM and international roaming, leveraging Rakuten Mobile's AI-powered, cloud-native platform and its track record in delivering integrated eSIM services at scale.
Beeline Uzbekistan serves 7.7 million mobile subscribers and more than 9 million monthly active users with digital services. The partnership combines Beeline Uzbekistan's strong market position and leadership in driving Uzbekistan's digital growth, with Rakuten Symphony's experience in cloud-native networks and open, automated architectures.
"We are pleased to continue our collaboration with VEON by expanding our partnership to Beeline Uzbekistan, which champions Uzbekistan's digital growth with investments into network and digital services, supporting the national digital economy," said Sharad Sriwastawa, President, Rakuten Symphony. "This partnership demonstrates both organizations' commitment to advancing the national digital infrastructures with open, AI-ready software and connectivity solutions that will futureproof national telecom networks. We look forward to supporting Beeline Uzbekistan's next steps in its digital journey."
"Uzbekistan is on an ambitious path to becoming a digital economy leader in Central Asia, and we at Beeline Uzbekistan are committed to building the infrastructure and platforms that make this possible," said Andrey Pyatakhin, CEO of Beeline Uzbekistan. "In collaboration with Rakuten Symphony, we will explore how cloud-native network architectures and AI-driven automation can accelerate our services and deliver better digital experiences for our customers. With this, we are building on the investments we have made in our Network Operations Center, our digital services ecosystem, and our new software company BuildX."
"We are excited to build the digital infrastructure and services that power Uzbekistan's economic growth and look forwarding to exploring collaborations with Rakuten across various areas," said Kaan Terzioglu, VEON Group CEO, who joined the signing ceremony in Barcelona. "Extending our collaboration with Rakuten to Uzbekistan, following our Ukraine and Kazakhstan operations earlier, demonstrates the scalability of VEON's approach in bringing cutting-edge technology partnerships to high-growth emerging markets that we proudly serve."
Today's announcement builds on the Rakuten-VEON partnership initially launched in 2023. Kyivstar Group and Beeline Kazakhstan, two other VEON Group Companies, are already partnering with Rakuten in Ukraine and Kazakhstan to explore collaboration on Open RAN and other digital cooperation opportunities.
About VEON
VEON is a digital operator that provides connectivity and digital services to nearly 150 million connectivity and 140 million digital users. Operating across five countries that are home to more than 6% of the world's population, VEON is transforming lives through technology-driven services that empower individuals and drive economic growth. VEON is listed on NASDAQ. For more information, visit: https://www.veon.com.
About Beeline Uzbekistan
Unitel LLC (doing business as "Beeline Uzbekistan") has been operating as a digital operator under the Beeline Uzbekistan trademark since September 2006. Beeline Uzbekistan is a part of VEON Group and a Certified Top Employer in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Beeline Uzbekistan has more than 2,000 employees.
About Rakuten
Rakuten Group, Inc. (TSE: 4755) is a global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Founded in Tokyo in 1997 as an online marketplace, Rakuten has expanded to offer services in e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications to 2 billion members around the world. The Rakuten Group has around 30,000 employees, and operations in 30 countries and regions. For more information visit https://global.rakuten.com/corp/.
About Rakuten Symphony
Rakuten Symphony is changing supply chain norms and disrupting outmoded thinking that threatens the industry's pursuit of rapid innovation and growth. Based on proven modern infrastructure practices, its open interface platforms make it possible to launch and operate advanced services in a fraction of the time and cost of conventional approaches, with no compromise to network quality or security. Rakuten Symphony has operations in Japan, the United States, Singapore, India, South Korea, Europe and the Middle East Africa region. For more information about Rakuten Symphony's offerings, please visit: https://symphony.rakuten.com.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer
This release contains "forward-looking statements", as the phrase is defined in U.S. securities laws. The forward-looking statements in this release, including those related to VEON's and its subsidiaries' Rakuten Symphony partnerships, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results and performance to differ materially from those expressed by such statements. These risks include those relating to uncertainty over success of our strategic initiatives, among others discussed in our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on April 25, 2025. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this release and VEON disclaims any obligation to update them, except as required by U.S. federal securities laws.
Contact Information
VEON
Hande Asik
Chief Strategy and Communications Officer
[email protected]
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